1 Corinthians 1:2-3
Ps Paul Cheng
Dear Bethelites,
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2)
In a sense, every church has two addresses, a physical and spiritual one. The physical address is at Corinth, and the spiritual address is in God. Similarly, our church physical address is at Downing Street, Oakleigh, and our spiritual address is in God.
Background of Corinth - The city of Corinth was restored by Julius Caesar after they had been in ruins for more than a hundred years. Due to its strategic location which was near to the sea, it had two harbours; one facing Italy and the other toward Asia. It was a wealthy city, and famous for its cultures and magnificent temples; oftentimes sailors would stop by this city. On the other hand, it was an evil and immoral city. In those days, when someone said, “You lived like a Corinthian,” he was indirectly saying, “You are extremely immoral.” There were at least one thousand prostitutes living in the temple. In the daytime, they served in the temple, but in the cover of the night, they plied their trades as prostitutes and entertainers in the city’s nightlife. Sadly, this sinful lifestyle and worldly attitude had crept into the church.
The Corinthians were deeply involved in sin and immorality. They were divided, disorderly, and chaotic even in the worship. They fought, sued and had sexual sins with one another. They were proud, and their understanding of spiritual gifts was all confused. They were filled with jealousy and envy, and abused their own marriages. The false teachers had infiltrated into the church, and influenced the people to attack the integrity of Paul and questioned the resurrection of Christ. In fact, the condition in Corinth was so bad that Apollos would not stay or return to that city though the Apostle Paul urged him to.
The saints in Corinth - Paul greeted those believers that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. The word sanctified (hagiazo) means to be set apart. Thus, he addressed them as saints (hagios), and they were not alone because they were connected with all the other saints in every place who called upon the name of Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to be a saint? If one wants to get the right biblical understanding of the meaning of a saint, he must first get rid of the wrong understanding about saints.
The word “saints” in the Roman Catholic Church has a different meaning; for example, they have saints Theresa, Anthony, Nicholas, Anne, and so forth. They believe that a saint is someone who has been designated by the church through certain procedures. Firstly, according to the Catholic’s theology, a saint is someone who was dead and was in heaven. Most of the time, they had been martyred or they had done many good works during their lifetimes. Secondly, someone who has been nominated by the church to be a saint must be responsible for at least one confirmed miracle. The name of the nominated saint would go before the council; obviously the person could not go personally because he or she had already died. So someone would represent the nominated person before the council and argue in regards to his or her merits and good works, and give evidence of at least one confirmed miracle. Another person would also appear before the council and he is called the “devil’s advocate,” who would argue against and try to tear down those “merits.” When the council finally decides that the nominated person is worthy and qualified to be a saint, then he or she would be officially declared a saint.
Does the above match what 1 Corinthians 1:2 said about saints? No! Firstly, the saints were very much alive, and were reading Paul’s letter which was written to them. It would be foolish to think that Paul was writing to a group of dead saints in Corinth. Secondly, Paul was writing to the entire church, and they were all called saints. It was not just a nominated group of people.
In every church, there would be believers of different levels of spirituality; some might be knowledgeable and godly, others might have just come to know the Lord, but they were all known as saints.
There is another misconception about sainthood and that is the worldly view. When your friend says to you, “That person is a saint,” what does he mean? He simply means that person is a “really” good, holy and righteous person! Have you ever heard someone say, “I am no saint”? Well, he means “Don’t try to make me better or holier than I am!” In the eyes of the world, a saint is someone who has lived a good life, based on his personal goodness.
The truth is that every Christian is a saint. In the New Testament, the word saint or saints was used to describe the believers about sixty-one times. Just to cite a few examples, Ephesians 1:1, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and 2 Corinthians 13:13, All the saints salute you. Most certainly, Paul was not writing to the dead people at Ephesus, nor was he saying that all the saints in heaven greet you.
Perhaps, the classic example is Ephesians 4:11-12, And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Why did God give to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers? It was for the purpose of perfecting the saints, which means to build up or to equip the saints (believers). It would be foolish to think that they were equipping the saints in heaven.
The word saint comes from the original word “hagios” which means to sanctify, set apart or separate; to separate from something and to be separated onto something. Every Christian has been sanctified, set apart and separated unto God.
Before our conversion, we were in our lost conditions. We were in our sins, separated from the living God and on our ways to hell. God brought the gospel of His dear Son to us through the sharing or preaching of His Word, and the Holy Spirit convicted our hearts, and through that supernatural work, God called us. We saw ourselves as sinners, and believed that the Son of God died for our sins on the cross and He was raised from the dead. We saw ourselves as needing Him and with sorrow in our hearts and understanding that we were separated from God, we put our faith in the living Christ. At that moment, the conversion took place. God saved us! God separated and transported us out of spiritual darkness and into His marvellous light. Sin has separated us from a holy God through the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have been sanctified. Therefore, we are called saints, sanctified, set apart and separated from the world and unto God!
This setting apart is something we cannot undo. It is the work of God, and He has changed and made us different. Outwardly, a saint is like any person in the world; we have our families, we go to work, we send our children to school, etc. But the inner man is different from the people of the world, and we look at the world from a different perspective.
The question is not whether you are a saint or not, for every Christian is a saint. The vital question is, “Have we lived our lives as people who are set apart, sanctified by the precious blood of Christ, and separated from the world and unto God.” Or are our lives no different from the people of the world?
Grace and peace - Paul ended his greeting by saying, Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace is God’s undeserved favour, love and forgiveness that free us from the consequences of sin. It is not only a reference to God’s saving grace but also His sustaining grace that we need for daily living. Because of His grace bestowed upon the elect, we have peace with God. This is the peace that passes all understanding, and we have this inner peace to live our lives in this sin troubled world. We cannot have the peace of God unless we first experience the grace of God that saves us through the Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, Paul wished for the believers all the best that God can offer them grace and peace. Likewise, this should be our wish for our loved ones that they may have the grace of God, and once they have received God’s grace, they would experience the peace of God. Every believer is a saint, and a saint is someone who has the grace and peace of God.
With love in Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng